360 



THE KEDSTAKT. 



It is a handsomely-colored and elegantly-shaped bird, and is a great 

 ornament to our fields and hedgerows. The name of "Redstart" is a 

 very appropriate one, and has been given to the bird in allusion to the 

 peculiar character of its flight. While walking quietly along the 

 hedgerows, the observer may often see a bird flash suddenly out of the 

 leafage, flirt its tail in the air, displaying strongly a bright gleam of 

 ruddy hue, and after a sharp dash of a few yards turn into the hedge 

 again with as much suddenness as it had displayed in its exit. These 

 manoeuvres it will fepeat frequently, always keeping well in front, and 

 at last it will quietly slip through the hedge, double back on the oppo- 

 site side, and return to the spot whence it had started. 



No one need fancy, from seeing the bird in the hedge, that its nest is 

 in close proximitv, for the Redstart seldom builds in such localities. 



The Eedstart {RuticiUa pfioentcuia). 



haunting them only for the sake of obtaining food for its young. The 

 nest is almost invariably built in the hole of an old wall, in a crevice 

 of rock, a heap of large stones, in a hollow tree, or in very thick ivy. 

 The eggs are generally five in number, although they vary from four 

 to seven, and are of a beautiful blue, with a slight tinge of green. 

 They are not unlike those of the common hedge-sparrow, but are 

 shorter and of a different contour. 



The Redstart has a very sweet song, which, although not very 

 powerful, is soft and melodious, bearing some resemblance to that of 

 the nightingale. 



The food of the Redstart is mostly of an insect nature, and is obtained 

 in various ways. Sometimes the bird dashes from its perch upon a 

 passing insect, after the manner of the flycatcher ; sometimes it chases 

 beetles and other creeping insects upon the leaves and branches of the 

 hedges; sometimes it hunts for worms, grubs, and snails from the 

 ground; and it often picks maggots out of fungi, decaying wood, 

 mosses, and lichens. Soft ripe fruit is also eaten by the Redstart, which, 

 -however, ought to be allowed its free range of the'garden in recompense 



